Before reading below, I recommend you read my post - What is the Faith Pyramid?
How has the Creator God revealed Himself to His creation? There are two broad terms that are used to characterize God’s revelation. They are “general revelation” and “special revelation.” General revelation is the way in which God has generally revealed himself to all of His creation. “God’s existence, power, wisdom, majesty, and glory are made known in a general way to all people at all times in all places through the created order. That includes nature (Ps. 19:1-4; Rom. 1:18-21), history (Dan. 2:21; Acts 17:26), and the inner human conscience (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 2:11-16).”[1] The most important and often quoted Biblical support for this truth is found in Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world His invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (NASB). Because Paul is speaking about general revelation, it should be noted that this verse is not true only because it is found in inerrant Scripture. Rather, it is the case that this verse is simply stating a fact about reality. So even if this verse (or any other similar verse) were not in the Bible, general revelation could still be taught.
When studying the created order, one can conclude many things about the One who put it there. First, the Creator must be enormously powerful. For who, but a very powerful Being, could create all things out of nothing? Second, the Creator must be supremely intelligent. There is a clear sign of intelligence evident in creation. For example, imagine showing a bird to someone who had never seen or heard of such a thing. What if you told that person that this “bird” was an early twenty-first century invention by some of our brightest scientists? Upon studying this “invention,” the person you have fibbed to would be mesmerized and enormously impressed by the scientists who were able to create such a design. When discovering that this bird was actually a natural creature like all other animals, it would be foolish for the duped person to become any less impressed with the design and intricacies of this bird creature. When understanding it this way, one can see how intelligent design and enormous power were both necessary in establishing the created order. We should not ignore these conclusions any more than we would ignore the deduction that human intelligence is always behind a completed Scrabble board. Furthermore, there are other aspects of God’s general revelation found in creation (the moral law is an additional example).
General revelation will only reveal that God exists and that He has certain attributes. Special revelation is the way in which God has revealed Himself in a more specific and personal way. “First, God manifested himself through his covenant people such as the Hebrew patriarchs, prophets, and kings (as recorded and interpreted by the prophets in the Old Testament). Second, God’s revelation culminated decisively in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ—the God-man whose life, death, and resurrection were recorded and interpreted by the apostles in the New Testament.”[2] Miraculous acts and visions/dreams from God are additional examples of God’s special revelation. Protestant theologians often refer to this dual view of revelation as the “two-books theory.” God is both the author of the figurative book of nature (general revelation) and the literal book of Scripture (special revelation). Both the world and His written word reveal that God exists and desires a relationship with His creation.
In the context of the Faith Pyramid, general revelation is used to "conquer" Level 1, and special revelation is used to conquer Levels 2 & up.
[1] Kenneth Richard Samples, A World of Difference. (Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2007), 109.
[2] Samples, 110.
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